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International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

GCSE English Language and GCSE English Literature at grade B (or new level 6). GCSE Mathematics at Grade B (or new level 6)

Scottish Higher

A,B,B,B

AABB over 2 sittings.
Higher English at grade B and National 5 Mathematics (or Lifeskills Mathematics) at grade B or equivalent.

UCAS Tariff

114-120

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

57%

Applicants receiving offers

About this course

Source: UCAS

Course option

4.0years

Full-time | 2020

Subjects

Modern history

Politics

Secondary teaching

If you really want to get a handle on the modern world, it is essential to understand the past. How did America become a superpower? Would women have got the right to vote without struggle? Why do people empower authoritarian leaders? How does climate shape society? History at Stirling allows you to explore these and many other pressing questions, guided by a committed team of historians passionate about their subjects. You will develop your knowledge of the world while acquiring intellectual and personal skills much in demand in the labour market. Stirling is different: in the context of a friendly department with approachable staff, we offer a unique breadth and chronological depth of options at honours level. We offer a range of courses on American, African, European, British and Scottish history that only few other (and much larger) institutions can match. You will explore reform and revolution, war, ideas, social movements, historical figures, race, gender, religion, democracy, the environment. In addition, thanks to the flexibility of Stirling’s academic programmes, you can study history in combination with other subjects, such as education, politics, languages, media studies and many more. The first two years provide the strong foundations that any student of history needs, while years three and four allow you to choose from an ample selection of country and thematic specialisms.
Politics permeates every aspect of people’s lives: shaping their opinions, informing their decisions, guiding their alliances and enabling their understanding of others’ beliefs and motivations at individual, organisational and societal levels. Studying this subject will increase your awareness of the different political systems, ideologies and policies, which impact people’s lives at regional, national and international levels. Our Politics division is highly regarded and students benefit from a strong research-led approach to teaching. Our Politics programmes are informed by a strong emphasis on research training and transferable skills, which will prepare you for the challenges ahead in the workplace and in the wider world. Politics can be studied at Stirling as a specialist four-year Single Honours degree in Politics or International Politics or taken in combination with another subject as part of a four-year combined Honours degree.
The opportunity to work with young adults to help them fulfil their potential must surely rank as one of the most important and influential roles anyone can take up as a career. What are the complex processes that underpin both learning and teaching within classrooms and other ‘learning spaces’? How can we use expert knowledge and developed experience of these processes to maximise the quality of education experienced by all our young people? Choosing to study Secondary Education at Stirling will involve exploring these and other core pedagogical beliefs, issues and practices and lead to one of the most rewarding and challenging career choices available to any graduate. You will usually follow eight semesters (four years) which leads to an Honours degree in the chosen teaching subject(s) and Professional Education. Alternatively, seven semesters (three and a half years) lead either to a General degree, or to a Bachelor’s degree in Professional Education. General degree students may only be able to qualify in one teaching subject.

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What students say

We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

82%

med

Modern history

82%

med

Politics

78%

med

Secondary teaching

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Student voice

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

Biology

B

English Literature

C

History

A

After graduation

Source: DHLE and HECSU

The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

History

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£19,000

med

Average annual salary

96%

med

Employed or in further education

89%

med

Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

History is a very popular subject (although numbers have fallen of late) — in 2015, over 10,000 UK students graduated in a history-related course. Obviously, there aren't 11,000 jobs as historians available every year, but history is a good, flexible degree that allows graduates to go into a wide range of different jobs, and consequently history graduates have an unemployment rate comparable to the national graduate average. Many — probably most — jobs for graduates don't ask for a particular degree to go into them and history graduates are well set to take advantage. That's why so many go into jobs in the finance industry, human resources, marketing, PR and events management, as well as the more obvious roles in education, welfare and the arts. Around one in five history graduates went into further study last year. History and teaching were the most popular further study subjects for history graduates, but law, journalism, and politics were also popular postgraduate courses.

Politics

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£18,000

low

Average annual salary

95%

med

Employed or in further education

91%

med

Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

The numbers of people taking politics degrees fell sharply last year and we'll keep an eye on this one - it can't really be because of graduates getting poor outcomes as politics grads do about as well as graduates on average. Most politics or international relations graduates don't actually go into politics - although many do, as activists, fundraisers and researchers. Jobs in local and central government are also important. Other popular jobs include marketing and PR, youth and community work, finance roles, HR and academic research (you usually need a postgraduate degree to get into research). Because so many graduates get jobs in the civil service, a lot of graduates find themselves in London after graduating. Politics is a very popular postgraduate subject, and so about one in five politics graduates go on to take another course - usually a one-year Masters - after they finish their degrees.

Teacher training

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£22,800

med

Average annual salary

100%

med

Employed or in further education

49%

med

Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

The stats above mainly cover teaching degrees for training and qualifying in primary school education. These tend to be three or four-year courses — check with course tutors about how long you will need to study to get your Qualified Teacher Status. Most graduates go into teaching roles — usually primary school teaching, so these courses have good employment rates and starting salaries. We have a shortage of teachers of all kinds, which is deepening, and whilst many of the most severe are at secondary level, the prospects for this degree are not likely to take a downturn any time soon.

What about your long term prospects?

Source: LEO

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Modern history

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£17k

£17k

First year

£20k

£20k

Third year

£23k

£23k

Fifth year

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Politics

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£15k

£15k

First year

£19k

£19k

Third year

£23k

£23k

Fifth year

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Secondary teaching

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£23k

£23k

First year

£27k

£27k

Third year

£31k

£31k

Fifth year

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

We calculate a mean rating of all responses to indicate whether this is high, medium or low compared to the same subject area at other universities.

This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?